According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, approximately 60,000 American’s are diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) each year and more than 10 million worldwide are currently living with the disease. PD is referred to as a movement disorder because of the involuntary, erratic movements that occur in the face, arms, legs, and trunk. Its symptoms are different from person to person and usually develop slowly over time.

Although the disease is degenerative, physical therapy has been scientifically proven to be effective in treating imbalance, shuffling gait, rigidity, and other symptoms associated with the disease. Physical therapy (PT) has become such a cornerstone of treatment, that the Parkinson’s Foundation has implemented its own highly selective faculty-training program designed specifically for PD therapy. The competitive “train the trainer” program improves Parkinson’s care by training faculty leaders across the U.S. so they can, in turn, educate PT students. Only six PT faculty are accepted per site. We are pleased to report that clinical faculty member Patricia Brown, PT, DPT, NCS is one of them.

Dr. Brown joined Chapman University’s renowned Doctor of Physical Therapy program in 2014. She has been passionate about reactive postural control and Parkinson’s disease rehabilitation for many years. The news of her acceptance into the Parkinson’s Foundation PT Faculty Trainning program came in late May and she could not be more delighted. She plans to complete the program in approximately six months at Oregon Health and Science University.

Help us congratulate Dr. Brown on this wonderful achievement by commenting below!